April 11, 2005

W. Lax Falls to Dartmouth

By | April 11, 2005

No. 7 Dartmouth made use of an 8-3 first-half lead — and an entire game of strong goalkeeping — to defeat the No. 13 women’s lacrosse team, 13-8, in Hanover, N.H., on Saturday.

After the tough first half, Cornell (4-5, 1-2 Ivy) attempted a late-game comeback, outshooting the Green, 16-7, after halftime. However, Dartmouth was helped by an excellent performance from All-American goalie Devon Wills, and good shooting from its attack. Wills had nine saves after halftime, and the Green offense was able to match all of Cornell’s goals in the 5-5 second half. Wills had 11 saves on the day.

“They have a really athletic, fast-paced team,” said senior Kristen Smith. “They really came out fast and strong. They were winning the draw controls initially — which gave them the momentum — and they would take it down and execute quickly.”

Dartmouth (9-0, 4-0 Ivy) netted the first four goals of the game, with 2004 second team All-Ivy honoree Katieanne Christian scoring twice during the run. Christian leads the Green with 31 goals.

“[Dartmouth is] an excellent team, and they came out connecting well in the early part of the game,” said Cornell head coach Jenny Graap ’86. “It took Cornell a little bit of time to get composed, start battling back, and win some draw controls.”

Cornell got on the board with about 15 minutes remaining in the half, when freshman Katherine Simmons scored her first goal of the game. Dartmouth answered less than two minutes later, making the score 5-1. Junior Allison Schindler found the net for Cornell, earning her ninth goal of the year. Dartmouth added another goal with 10 minutes remaining in the half. Cornell freshman Charlotte Schmidlapp would then score moments later, off an assist from Schindler, who leads the team with nine assists this year.

However, Dartmouth finished the half with two goals, and the Green went into the break with a commanding 8-3 lead.

Graap noted that Cornell had difficulty in its transition game and turnovers in the first half. “Our offense just didn’t have a ton of opportunities because of [the] number of turnovers that were being committed,” Graap said.

Dartmouth opened the second half with a goal, when Jen Pittman found the net less a minute into the half. Smith put another tally on the board for the Red with 23 minutes remaining, but Dartmouth responded to go up, 10-4. The back and forth scoring continued as Cornell freshman Amanda Linnertz found the back of the net less than a minute later, only to have Dartmouth respond at the other end of the field.

With 20 minutes remaining, Simmons notched her second goal of the day. Smith also found the net, making the score 11-7 with her team-leading 19th goal of the season.

Dartmouth would then score with 13 minutes remaining, increasing its lead to 12-7. Smith found the net at 11:32 to earn a hat trick, but it proved to be Cornell’s final goal of the day. Dartmouth scored one last time with under seven minutes remaining, making the final score 13-8.

“Though it felt like we were playing better [in the second half], Dartmouth still managed to score,” Graap said. “On this particular day, Dartmouth was really exceptional.”

The game was Cornell’s third consecutive loss against a ranked team. Last Saturday, the Red lost, 9-8, to No. 3 Princeton in three overtimes. On Tuesday, Cornell lost at No. 17 Syracuse, also by a score of 9-8.

Graap noted that Cornell’s difficult schedule may have helped the young team learn about competing at the highest level of college lacrosse.

“I think we need to continue to learn, and continue to improve,” she said. “There’s plenty of lacrosse left to play. We need to bear down, and stay positive.”

The Red will next be in action on Friday, when the team welcomes Brown to Ithaca. On Sunday, Cornell will meet Columbia in New York City.

Related

ByApril 12, 2005

The Cornell religious community celebrated two milestones this weekend: the 130th anniversary of the dedication of Sage Chapel and the 75th anniversary of the creation of Cornell United Religious Work (CURW). A special Sunday speech by Rev. Prof. Peter Gomes at Sage Chapel commemorated the benchmarks. “I know perfectly well why I’ve been invited to speak here today. I’m a living link to your past,” said Gomes, referring to the designing and founding of Sage Chapel by Harvard’s James Babcock in 1875. A minister at Harvard’s Memorial Church for 35 years and a noted speaker and author, Gomes delivered his address, entitled “So Far, So Good, So What?” The often tongue-in-cheek sermon praised the progress of Sage Chapel throughout the years and the courage it takes to keep one’s faith in the heart of an institution that believes “either we know it or we can figure it out, and if we can’t then it’s not worth knowing.” As a minister at another church in the heart of a progressive and powerful research university, Gomes spoke on trials of preserving the need for nontangible spiritual enlightenment in such an environment, comparing worshippers to radicals “flying in the face of convention.” “The most precious research building of all on this campus is this chapel, because it invests in the future,” said Gomes. In an earlier interview, Rev. Kenneth Clarke, director of CURW, spoke on the excitement and magnitude of the 75th birthday of the organization, calling it “perhaps the first intentionally nonsectarian religious organization on an American campus.” Clarke said the CURW was founded on “a notion of faith and understanding, providing one umbrella as opposed to a loose confederation.” Cornell has always been famous for its open and non-exlusionary religious principles since its creation by A.D. White and Ezra Cornell, earning it criticism at the time as a “godless institution.” Though originally created to accommodate all forms of Protestantism, Catholic and Jewish faiths were well represented by the CURW’s inception in 1929 with 26 faiths represented today. Clarke talked about the proud tradition in addressing religious and social needs in the community. During the 1960s “CURW was involved in addressing tensions on campus with race and the Vietnam War.” Since CURW then performed many of the duties of the Public Service Center, it was often a mediator and was “vibrant with activism.” CURW has continued to be active in the community. The groups MECCA and Hillel completed a mosaic for Anabel Taylor’s One World Room. The effort won the 2003 Perkins Prize, given for efforts to increase intercultural understanding. Early planning is also going on for an “interfaith service of thanksgiving” that will be held early in the fall and hopefully become a tradition. Clarke called these two anniversaries a good time to look at the religious challenges facing us today given the religious feuding and turmoil in our times. “We must look for a more depthful understanding of each other,” said Clarke. “It is most moving to see people moving beyond courtesy to engage each other deeply.” The anniversary continues this week when Karen Armstrong will also be delivering an address at Sage Chapel Thursday afternoon in honor of 75 years of CURW titled “God and the Religious Quest for Humanity.”Archived article by Stephen NelsonSun Contributor

ByApril 12, 2005

Cornell’s African-American and Jewish communities came together Friday night in Robert Purcell Community Center for a traditional Jewish Shabbat dinner with a twist. That twist was provided by former basketball star LaVon Mercer, a self-described African-American Israeli who seemed the perfect man to bring the groups together. Mercer spoke and fielded questions about race relations, terrorism, food, culture and basketball in Israel and in the United States, among other issues. He said the friendships he made in Israel were the main reason he stayed for so long and maintains such a strong connection to the country. “I thought, ‘they took care of me, now I have to give back to the State of Israel,'” he said. Mercer emphasized the importance of accepting individuals as people instead of labeling them with a particular race or religion. He said his Israeli teammates and neighbors made him feel comfortable and at home from the day he arrived in the country. “The Israeli brothers and sisters took me in and we started working together,” he said. Mercer also stressed the extent to which he felt accepted in Israel and implored those in attendance to work together to cross racial lines and create the same culture of cooperation in the United States and at Cornell. “The complacency we have in the States is because we all sat on our rumps too long,” he said. After starring at the University of Georgia, where he holds the career record for blocked shots, Mercer was drafted by the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs sent Mercer overseas to develop his offensive skills. Though he intended to stay for a short while, Mercer soon fell in love with Israel, and played for 14 years on Hapoel and Maccabi Tel-Aviv, Israel, as well as the Israeli national team. Before long, people were calling him “the Israeli Michael Jordan” for his leadership on and off the court. After acquiring Israeli citizenship, Mercer also served in the Israel Defense Forces. He is currently the head basketball coach at Spelman College in Atlanta, Ga. Students who participated in the event seemed to feel inspired and optimistic. “It was very heartening to hear Coach Mercer speak of his great experiences living in Israel. I’m very hopeful that the Jewish and black communities will continue to build bonds with each other well into the future,” said CIPAC President Dan Greenwald ’05. “Now that we have created an open dialogue, and people are comfortable with each other, we can start to collaborate. Us coming together and celebrating together is what Ezra Cornell wanted. This is diversity, and were giving it to him,” said Justin Davis ’07. “He had some cool stuff to say about religion and what we have in common as opposed to our differences,” said Kur Robin ’08. “I thought this was a really positive experience. I always like to see different groups get together,” said Ashley Holt ’07. “I enjoyed the speaker and hope to attend events like this again.” The event, which drew more than 100 Cornell students, was co-sponsored by the Cornell Israel Public Affairs Committee (CIPAC), Black Students United (BSU), Cornell Hillel, Cornell NAACP, the Program of Jewish Studies, the Near Eastern Studies Department and the Grinspoon Grant from Hillel International.Archived article by Josh GoldmanSun Staff Writer